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Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

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Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#91

What's interesting about a savant is how they can end up defined by what they don't see. I have nothing but respect for Elon, however I think he is working on the wrong problems. That's not his fault and he is most definitely making his best effort. However he's the paragon of a paradigm of a European culture which is as unsustainable as it is powerful.

So what are the right problems to work on, and what paradigms are more sustainable than European culture?

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#92
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like Elon Musk, but the hero-worship disturbs me. Yeah, he founded one pretty successful company, got in early at a very successful company, and has been using the money to fund cool projects ever since. I think Tesla and SpaceX are both interesting, but still experimental: he hasn't been singlehandedly Tony Starking up the future in a lab, he's just used a lot of money from making some smart/lucky decisions to hir…

"he hasn't been singlehandedly Tony Starking up the future in a lab" So this is the measure of progress now? How can this sentence sound like anything other than sour grapes? You use the tools available to you for the betterment of your species in some way.

Like I said, I like him! I just don't understand why we should think he has special knowledge of what the future holds.

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#93
post #18

Since when did entrepreneurs decided to speak in scifi-bullshit? "We have a digital tertiary self in the form of out email capabilities, our computers, phones, applications." And also, arrogant to the point of being funny? "Interviewer: Do you think people that want to be useful today should get PhDs?Elon: Mostly not." LOL.

> Since when did entrepreneurs decided to speak in scifi-bullshit? "We have a digital tertiary self in the form of out email capabilities, our computers, phones, applications." It's not sci-fi, it's a legitimate view. It's basically the opposite of the common "omg children today are spending too much time with computers, this is unnatural, they should communicate more face to face instead of texting so much" bullshit…

The way you say it is a legitimate view. The way he says it is just pontifying. As for the idea that our tools and thoughts are a part of us, it goes way back.

As for the PhD thing, I just wanted to mention how arrogant he is. He could at least have some respect for these poor losers.

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#94

>I think a lot of people think I must spend a lot of time with media or on businessy things. But actually almost all my time, like 80% of it, is spent on engineering and design. Uh... that's not really a CEO's job though.

We're just used to CEOs having only a decorative role, who can be replaced in an instant. So much so that when we see a CEO actually working/engaging with the actual product/service, they seem like a peculiar and rare specimen.

There have been others. Ed Land, of Polaroid, had a private lab next to his office as CEO. But they're rare.

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#95
post #18

Since when did entrepreneurs decided to speak in scifi-bullshit? "We have a digital tertiary self in the form of out email capabilities, our computers, phones, applications." And also, arrogant to the point of being funny? "Interviewer: Do you think people that want to be useful today should get PhDs?Elon: Mostly not." LOL.

You realize that Elon talking about scifi shit is one of the primary drivers of Tesla stock not tanking? Investors love that crap. I still love the dude though.

I kind of like him too. But it's still scifi BS :D

Funny that investors actually like it.

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#96
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Historically, expensive treatments for the rich have become universal treatments for everyone over time. What makes you believe that life extension will be any different? Or, if you disagree that expensive treatments generally stay expensive, what are your examples? I agree we could have a temporary awkward period in the middle, say 20 years, where it's not cheap yet. But on the scale of history that's a short period…

My counterexample is a facelift.

It's something that's not widely needed or desired, therefore a luxury product. Market forces can be funny like that.

My counter-counter example would be dentistry, or various forms of surgery in general. Especially the latter is expensive as hell, but most of the world managed to create systems that give access to it to pretty much everyone. Even the US somewhat manages that.

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#97
post #18

Since when did entrepreneurs decided to speak in scifi-bullshit? "We have a digital tertiary self in the form of out email capabilities, our computers, phones, applications." And also, arrogant to the point of being funny? "Interviewer: Do you think people that want to be useful today should get PhDs?Elon: Mostly not." LOL.

Elon Musk isn't the kind of person I thought he was. > "Politically, Musk has described himself as "half Democrat, half Republican". In his own words: "I'm somewhere in the middle, socially liberal and fiscally conservative."[116] > Musk is a self-described American exceptionalist and nationalist, describing himself as "nauseatingly pro-American". According to Musk, the United States is "[inarguably] the greatest cou…

The John Carmack comparison is point-on!

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#98
post #4

I am very happy that there's a transcript. But I just spent two minutes trying to figure out how to cut and paste it into a textfile (Scribd won't let me download it without signing up). My request to YC is to publish transcripts like this as text.

While we're at it, these are great interviews and I'm glad they're being created and published, and I'd appreciate if the series was available as a podcast... I only noticed this new interview because I happened to be on HN right now.

> I'd appreciate if the series was available as a podcast

It's available on SoundCloud.

https://soundcloud.com/ycombinator

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#99
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Historically, expensive treatments for the rich have become universal treatments for everyone over time. What makes you believe that life extension will be any different? Or, if you disagree that expensive treatments generally stay expensive, what are your examples? I agree we could have a temporary awkward period in the middle, say 20 years, where it's not cheap yet. But on the scale of history that's a short period…

My counterexample is a facelift.

A facelift isn't all that useful in the grand scheme of things, even to the wealthy, and it requires a significant quantity of very highly skilled manual labor, which keeps the price high. Neither of the above would be true of a treatment that delays or reverses aging.
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